Sunday, May 27, 2012

Write Your Way into View

2002 sales of books and products through all channels: just under $4.2 billion, up from $4 billion in 2000.
$2.4 billion sold through Christian retail outlets; $1.1 billion through general retail; and $725 million through direct-to-consumer ministry channels.

First 6 months of 2003: CBA member store sales were down 2%.

Books increased 8%, Bibles increased 2% but music and gifts decreased 9%.

--Christian Booksellers Association reported in Publishers Weekly, August 4, 2003

http://www.PublishersWeekly.com

(Cited from http://parapublishing.com/sites/para/resources/statistics.cfm)
 
In addition to studying book-buying habits, the project also explored what types of material people read. The results showed that evangelical adults (86%) and evangelical teens (97%) were the groups most likely to read Christian literature. Other segments with deep penetration by Christian publications included teens and adults who attend a Christian church regularly (65% and 71%, respectively).

(Cited from http://www.barna.org/barna-update/article/5-barna-update/114-half-of-all-americans-read-christian-books-and-one-third-buy-them)


Look at the statistics.  Christian literature, whether for study or otherwise, sells at enormous rates to a large following.  That makes sense.
 
What would really make sense would be for you to get yourself busy writing something for the Christian literary market.
 
Think on it.  Take some time and think it through.  You can make a real impression with some simple strategies for breaking into the Christian information market.
 
Christian Article Sites
Write on your business, ministry or industry.  Write about what you know and use your professional experience to help guide others with your lessons learned and best practices.  Use sites like Bukisa or Gather to publish online articles.

Blog
Make some noise in the blogosphere by posting pointers or mini articles on a variety of topics.  Look into WordPress and Blogger.  Beyond this blog, I also post to Rev Bruce's Blog on WordPress that contains more inspirational Christian postings.

E-Books 
Support independent publishing: Buy this e-book on Lulu.If you have enough content on a particular subject matter, consider writing an e-book on it.  Self-publish your own e-book and place it on an online storefront and your website as well as your blog.  Make it available for download in multiple marketplaces.  Use Lulu or CreateSpace.  My e-book of inspirational poetry entitled Broken Pieces is available on iTunes through Lulu.  Self-publishing allows you to publish and promote your material, then profit from it as well. 

7276414-17971825Merchandise Your Material
Use some of the top online merchandise sites to sell customized products related to your writing.  These span from t-shirts to coffee mugs and iPad cases.  If you are going to build it, you better brand it, too.  Think about WWJD, Purpose Driven, and Jabez's Prayer.  These all swept through the Christian marketplace with loads of merchandise like keychains and Bible covers to follow behind the success of the books.  Look into CafePress, Zazzle and Spreadshirt to launch your own merchandising craze.
I Love My Neighbor!! Button

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